Secular

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 28: Line 28:
 
*[[Scientific method]]
 
*[[Scientific method]]
 
*[[Science]]
 
*[[Science]]
 +
*[[Secular humanism]]
 +
*[[Secular progressives]]
 +
*[[Secular religions]]
  
 
==Footnotes==
 
==Footnotes==

Revision as of 15:13, 29 October 2008

Secular most often means either of the following;[1]

  1. not religious, sacred, or spiritual.
  2. (of clergy) not subject to or bound by religious rule.

Contents

Secular Law

The law of the land in many countries is considered secular. That is, the government that runs the country is not affected by and has no official ties with a church of any kind. The US is officially secular, having an official and legal separation of the church and state. In practice, this hasn't proved to work and many elections and legal proceedings are burried in religious thinking.

The UK by contrast, has an official connection between church and state (with the current Monarch as head of both), however in practice it is almost completely secular. France, however, is so secular it physically hurts.

Secular Science

Secular is the best way to describe science in so much that as a principle it is unaffected by existing dogmas or religious attitudes. Anti-science proponents would generally describe science as atheistic, believing that science seeks to deny god and seeing science as the enemy of religion.

Some would take a NOMA stance and argue they are wrong on both counts saying that science has no such goal and it is beyond the realm of science to deny god, or prove god does not exist. Other would argue that no area should be free from scientific investigation including the possible existence of God(s).

Nevertheless most scientists would agree that science removes the need for god as an explanation for physical phenomena, although this does not necessarily lead to a conclusion that there is no god.

Secular Life

As can be imagined, religious fundamentalists have no liking for the word or the concept, and may even attempt to deny that such a concept is rational. However the term has wide application and makes perfect sense. There are many aspects of life that even the fundamentalists probably accept as not falling under the aegis of their religious beliefs. Purely personal matters such as; where to live, what colour to paint the back porch and whether or not Coke tastes better than Pepsi, are all secular matters. (Although it could be argued that someone, somewhere will have turned such trivial matters into a theological debate)

Why Secularism?

One can argue that secular life, law and science gives all religions equal footing and an equal voice. By eliminating their input, one religion cannot have an unfair domination over the other. Mostly, however, it keeps the crazies out of power.

See also

Footnotes

  1. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/secular?view=uk
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support